Schedule

Schedule

conference program

8:30 - 9:00 AM

Registration

9:00 - 9:20 AM

Opening Remarks

9:20 - 9:55 AM

Current State of Technology Advancement in Blockchain

Blockchain technology has experienced exponential growth, with innovation driven by developers, start-ups and enterprise in all areas. This maturing technology has attributes that position it to be the next big disruption in enterprise and government services. Our panelists will review the current state of the technology and discuss:

How will blockchain combine with other technologies?

What are the most promising recent developments in the blockchain space?

What are challenges and vulnerabilities of the technology?

Where will blockchain be in 3 years (and beyond)?

How does it currently impact the accounting and auditing industry and what will the landscape look like (disruptions and opportunities)?

Moderator: Yorke Rhodes, Microsoft

Speakers:

Joe Lubin, ConsenSys

Len Porcano, Vertex, Inc.

Samuel Peterson, EY

10:00 - 10:35 AM

Custodianship of Digital Assets and Interacting with Banks

Liquid and illiquid digital asset custodianship are emerging following the expansion of digital asset ecosystem. Increasing numbers of institutional investors are looking for way to get exposure to digital financial products. While a number of new incumbents enter the industry with an expanding variety of assets, new actors in the industry are looking for secure and simple ways to hold and monitor their digital holdings. This panel will look at new ways for investors to safely enter and store their digital investments.

Moderator: Alex Batlin, Trustology

Speakers:

Verity Van Tassel Richards, McDermott Will & Emery

Ted Rogers, Xapo

Fund Considerations from an Accountant’s Perspective

Over 9 billion dollars has been allocated towards token sales so far, and hundreds of new funds are holding these tokens. Digital Asset Funds can have multiple different strategies and procedures affecting their needed accounting or administrative support.

What fund managers should know about accounting when launching a crypto fund (in-kind contributions, 1031 exchanges, side pockets, SAFT contracts)?

Which inventory tracking methods are acceptable?

Are exchanges and/or wallets considered qualified custodians?

Moderator: Mark Li, BPM

Speakers:

Phil DiBartolomeo, EisnerAmper

Karl Cole-Frieman, Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP

Meltem Demirors, Athena Cap

Jeremy Drane, Libra to the Fund Considerations

Gorazd Ocvirk, Deloitte to the Custodianship of Digital Assets

10:40 - 11:15 AM

Utility or Security Token: What is the Regulatory Outlook?

The ongoing debate between utility tokens and security tokens continues. Now the story has shifted with Security Token Offerings (STOs) becoming a viable option for upcoming token launches. This panel will cover key questions as part of this shift, including:

How do Security Token Offerings relate to Utility Token Sales?

What are the regulatory actions and directions of key U.S. regulators, including the SEC and FinCEN?

How may those impact Utility Tokens and lay the foundation for Security Tokens?

Moderator: Lewis Cohen, DLx Law LLP

Speaker

Jeff Bandman, CFTC Labs

Alexandra Scheibe, McDermott, Will & Emery

Vincent Molinari, Liquid Markets Group, Inc.

Aaron Wright, Cardozo Law School

Best Practices for Tax Treatment of Digital Currencies

Cryptocurrencies have received qualification for tax purposes in several jurisdictions. This panel will discuss key questions with this evolution, including:

How are capital gains, income and payments treated by the various tax authorities for individuals and companies?

What types of events should be considered when accounting for cryptocurrencies?

What are the implication of accepting them as payments for companies and individuals?

Moderator: Alan Cohn, Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Speakers:

Trudie Kanter, Crowe Horwath LLP

Dan Winters, Global Tax Accountants

Steven Ellis, Goodwin Law

11:20 - 11:55 AM

Auditing Blockchains & DLT, SOC and Internal Controls

Blockchains and DLT are being used during the operations of companies to facilitate payment rails, control funds, create digital signatures, etc. with a range of companies such as exchanges, funds, and miners. Similar to traditional companies audits around the SOC and internal controls become necessary, however, the tools and understanding of the systems are being reengineered. How has blockchain and DLT impacted methods of performing SOC compliance and internal control checks? What are the key risks companies utilizing these technologies need to be concerned about?

Moderator: Ajit Tripathi, ConsenSys

Speakers:

A. Michael Smith, PwC

Zachary Lynde, Factom

Bennett Moore, RSM

Lory Kehoue, ConsensSys

Auditing Tokens, Miners & Exchanges

Transaction volume of digital assets has been growing exponentially and values are volatile. However, currently there is no specific guidance from IFRS or US GAAP on accounting for digital assets. Shareholders and creditors of companies that possess digital assets need to know about the risks involved in holding them. New guidance has to be developed to avoid discrepancy in practice. What do we need to know about auditing blockchain? How is the audit of digital assets different than other encrypted systems?

Moderator: Ivan O’Donnell, Deloitte

Speakers:

Kell Canty, Verady

Justin Blincoe, ShapeShift

Daniel Figueredo, BPM

John Mercurio, Bitfury

12:00 - 12:20 PM

Introducing ABC Organization & Board

Networking Lunch

12:20 - 1:15 PM

1:15 - 1:50 PM

What Blockchain Use Cases are Closest to Production

Open source money, digital asset exchanges, supply chain digitization, registries for assets and users, voting, document authentication, interbank transfers, etc. - what are the financial and non-financial uses cases for blockchain technologies that are gaining traction and why? We explore these issues and provide some insight on where the focus may be in the next 12-18 months.

Moderator: Subhankar Sinha, PwC

Speakers:

Daniela Barbosa, Hyperledger

Jon West, Thomson Reuters

Jeremy Millar, EEA

Henry Aguda, Union Bank

Token Launch Considerations from an Accounting Perspective

Recent token launches have seen substantial capital raised in record times due to support from the developer community and sparking interest amongst investors. This panel will review a number of relevant issues from an accounting perspective:

How are tokens structured?

What are the best practices and strategies around token launches?

How are tokens valued? What about taxes?

What are the different standards emerging?

Moderator: Mark Li, BPM

Speakers:

Brett Shear, ConsenSys

Henri Arslanian, PwC

Jagruti Solanki, Aprio

Paddy Atmuri, Bitminutes

1:55 - 2:30 PM

How ERP Providers and Accounting Systems are preparing for DLT Change

Information flows on the Distributed Ledger Technology are time-stamped and irreversibly recorded. DLT allows for an automated process by a distributed network to ensure that all transactions are accurate, unalterable and complete. This means that the technology is promising to significantly enhance organization's efficiency.

Will DLT replace ERP systems?

If not, how will they integrate?

Is DLT enabling next-gen ERP?

Moderator: Graham Gal, Isenberg School of Management

Speakers:

Bill McCarthy, Michigan State

Nicholas Guglielmo, SAP

Sanjay Matthew, Oracle

A Technologist’s Perspective on Adoption Challenges

Blockchain technology and DLT has great potential to evolve current accounting practices towards real time audits, next generation ERP systems, and prevent the next financial crisis. However, technologic challenges such as privacy, scaling, and interoperability will need to be solved for the technology to achieve mass adoption. We are already seeing privacy solutions implementing on different blockchain protocols, scaling solutions implementing on established and upcoming protocols, and interoperability chains emerging to form chains of chains.

How are we going to see the emergence of this new ecosystem's interoperability?

How are we going to solve for privacy?

How will we scale?

Moderator: Griffin Anderson, ConsenSys

Speakers:

Nick Addison, ConsenSys

Dustin Byington, Wanchain

Martin de Bie, 216 Accountants

· Iliana Oris Valiente, Accenture

2:35 - 3:10 PM

Latest Ideas and Trends with Tokens and Protocols

Innovation around protocols and tokens have exponential growth with new ones launching every day. New infrastructure is being created on top of current blockchain protocols, protocols are experimenting with new consensus mechanisms, and token models are emerging to spark active communities around these protocols.

What are the latest trends with tokens and protocols?

What does that mean for the accounting profession going forward and what can we expect to see?

Moderator: Ryan David Williams, Experience Legal

Speakers:

Jake Brukhman, Coinfund

Eric Turner, Messari

Marshall Hayner, Metal Pay

Global Regulatory Outlook on DLT and Blockchains

Blockchain technology and DLT bring huge benefits to the financial and accounting industry, and gives rise to a whole new generation of services. However, regulators around the world have been refraining from formally regulating the blockchain while still seeking to apply existing regulations.

How can blockchain and DLT fit into pre-existing regulatory frameworks?

Can existing taxation and securities regulations provide an adequate framework for blockchain technology and products?

What is the position of regulators in the US and globally?

Moderator: David Deputy, Vertex, Inc.

Speakers:

Alexia Hefti, Deloitte Canada

Juan Llanos, ConsenSys

Justo A. Ortiz, Union Bank

Dana Syracuse, Perkins Coie

3:10 - 3:25 PM

Networking Coffee

3:25 - 4:00 PM

The Effects and Impacts on Crypto Transactions from an International Taxation and New Tax Laws Perspective

Tax rules for the digital economy are being rewritten at the global level via OEfCD and regional organizations. Digital presence triggering income tax and the assessment of transaction taxes based upon location of consumers are two key trends. Meanwhile, US tax reform and global offshore account information sharing are increasing pressure on repatriation of offshore profits while heightening transparency around tax avoidance. Within this context, blockchain and DLT technology-based businesses are likely to be viewed as "just another means of digital commerce" - yet the underpinning of decentralized and intermediary free transactions will challenge these new regulatory agreements even before the ink is dry. This panel will explore whether the global tax policy agenda will support or hinder blockchain adoption, and if the latter, what new regulatory obligations may arise.

Moderator: David Deputy, Vertex, Inc.

Speakers:

Barry Freeman, Crowe Horwath

Todd Cameron, Vertex, Inc.

Katt Gu, Chainroc

Taxing Tokens, Miners, & Exchanges

Tokens are proliferating in the form of utility tokens, security tokens, commodities, non-fungibles, etc. and there has not been specific guidance to address their tax treatment.

What are the tax implications of tokens being used or transferred across protocols to the users and the entity that built the protocol?

Are security tokens treated the same as previous security instruments for tax purposes?

What's the impact of assets becoming tokenized from the view of the tax accountant?